


I wish

by Vuotoinblu



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Reality, Everyone Needs A Hug, Implied/Referenced Torture, Light Angst, Stockholm Syndrome, Team as Family, Wish Fulfillment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:42:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23479408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vuotoinblu/pseuds/Vuotoinblu
Summary: When Caleb uses the wish spell to erase Trent Ikithon from his life, things don't go as expected. He will need to reunite the Mighty Nein to fix reality and get his previous life back.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 29





	1. Caleb

The dragon laid cold at Caleb’s feet, its huge, white and bloodied carcass almost too heavy to be moved even by Yasha, Fjord and Jester’s combined efforts. Beau was looking at the piles of gold scattered throughout the cavern and was gathering as much as she could in her pouch while Caduceus sat in a corner with a hand on Veth’s injured shoulder, pumping his remaining healing magic into her. The fight had been hard and after the initial cheers that followed their victory everyone fell silent, the exhaustion hitting them. In that moment, even as they counted the loot and enjoyed being alive after a fight that challenging, all they desired was to cuddle in Caleb’s bubble and sleep soundly. 

The wizard looked for a moment down at his hands asking himself if magically searching the cavern was worth one of his last spell slots before deciding to cast detect magic. A couple of objects seemed almost to light up in the penumbra. Caleb ignored the fancy looking sword abandoned next to a pile of platinum pieces and approached a simple wooden box, its powerful magical aura almost seeming to draw him towards it. He crouched in front of it thinking about calling Veth over to check it for traps but decided against it, his curiosity growing too strong for him to ignore. He opened the box carefully, discovering an old piece of folded paper and taking it slowly into his hands, almost surprised when no trap was activated.

The power the little scroll emanated was almost blinding and the wizard sat immediately on the floor to cast ritually Identify while the others swarmed around him, too used to him doing that to really care. They had almost finished collecting the last coin scattered around when the name of the spell the scroll contained popped into his head. His eyes jolted open, his breath getting stuck into his lungs as a whisper escaped his lips: “a wish.”

Thoughts raced into his head almost too fast for him to catch.

_ This is what you were waiting for _

_ This can bend reality _

_ This can bring them back _

“Hey, you ok?” Beau's rough and slightly worried voice brought him back to reality. His friends were now clustered around him and Caduceus’ insightful eyes were affixed onto his as they often were when he was trying to figure out what bothered him..

Jester came closer, divine energy already fizzling on the point of her blue fingertips.

“Are you hurt Cayleb?” she asked “do you need healing?”

_ My face must be a mess _ he thought watching how even Nott and Fjord’s eyes were wide with worry and feeling Yasha’s hand on his shoulder.

“I’m fine.” he said scrambling to his feet and tucking away the scroll “Just a headache. It’s late, I’m tired. We should find somewhere to sleep.” The other nodded in agreement and started exiting the cave and walking back to where they camped the night before. Even then though Caleb could feel Jester, Caduceus and Beau’s worried eyes on his back.

It was weird to finally have a family, someone to care about him enough to keep subtly checking on him as they did. 

_ But it didn’t need to be weird _

_ It could be normal _

_ He could make it normal _

-

The starry sky of Wildmount made the night less scary than it should have been. It seemed as though nothing could have touched them as long as the stars kept smiling upon them. The pale full moon illuminated his friends’ relaxed faces, sleep making that rambunctious group of warriors look younger, less battle worn and more innocent that they had ever been. They were cramped in the Wizard’s hut, sleeping huddled together in a way that seemed as uncomfortable as it was familiar and comforting. Caleb loved them. It took a lot for someone like him to admit it but it was true. The only people he remembered loving that much were his parents.

If his wish had worked he would have never met the Mighty Nein. 

_ But he would have felt whole again _

That knot in his throat, the omnipresent weight pressing on his chest, the tension in his shoulders, the panik always threatening to overcome him, the memories hunting him at night and, during the worst days, behind his closed eyelids every time he felt the heath of a fire… all gone.

_ He wouldn’t be broken anymore _

_ His parents would be there with him _

He saw his mother’s sweet smile in the morning, felt his father’s hand on his shoulder, the sound of their voices ringing in his all-remembering mind. He wanted that back. It was the reason he started travelling in the first place and now that he could make it true his determination seemed to melt in front of his friends’ faces.

_ He’d gone too far to let this stop him. _

He grabbed the scroll, pulling it out of his backpack as quietly as he could, trying not to wake the others up and his eyes started darting between the words and his sleeping friends. He took a deep breath and steeled himself. He knew what he needed to do. He had known for years.

_ They didn’t need him anyway _

He opened the piece of paper and started muttering, the arcane force inside him being channelled through the scroll. Caduceus jolted awake, followed soon by the others. The energy around them was palpable, electricity seemed to surround the dome and the hair on their harms were standing up. Caleb felt the last word exit his mouth as his body slowly started hovering into the air and the scroll in his hands crumbled to cinder.

“Caleb what’s happening?” Veth screeched, her voice thick with fear. He looked at her without answering taking in her sight for the last time. Then he looked at Jester’s wide, dark, gentle eyes, at Cad’s confused expression, at Fjord still growing tusks, at Beau’s clenched fists and Yasha’s worried frown, their sight familiar and heartbreaking.

Then he raised his head, stared at the stars and proclaimed: 

“I wish I never met Trent Ikithon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an experiment which goal is mainly to improve my English (I'm a non-native speaker) so constructive criticism and feedback as well as kudos are highly appreciated.
> 
> I know I'm using spells and effects the wrong way but they serve the narrative's purpose.
> 
> Peace and prosperity


	2. Beauregard

Caleb was floating into nothingness. He himself was nothing. Everything was dark and swirling and empty and full at the same time, and he could almost feel reality bending around him even if there was no actual him anymore.

“You fucked up.” a voice rang in the darkness. Suddenly he could see someone next to him, a tall elvish humanoid dressed in a green cloak, his red messy hair partly covering his face.

“You fucked up” he repeated “Now she’s hurting and I can’t do anything about it, so you will.” the figure put one of his long, nimble fingers onto what Caleb could just guess was his forehead.

“You will remember everything and you will fix this.” he said as a glimmer of green magic left his hand. “Consider this a gift from the Wildmother and the Traveler.” 

Then nothingness surrounded him again.

-

Caleb jolted awake. He was in a white room, his head comfortably resting on one of the softest cushions he had ever slept on, the smell of clean linen permeating the air. He sat up in bed looking around confused, a violent headache making it difficult to think.

“Good morning.” a woman with short brown hair was staring at him from the other side of the bed.

“Astrid? where am I? What are you doing here?” he asked getting quickly on his feet.

“Is this some kind of joke? We are at home in Rexxentrum and I’m here because I’m your wife, you silly man.” answered Astrid with a confused smile.

Caleb looked at her for a moment and then started pacing up and down in the room murmuring to himself in a low voice: “It worked, the wish spell was cast… but it shouldn’t be like this, I shouldn’t know anything about it, it was just supposed to change my life… Then why do I? How do I remember what happened in the other reality?” as soon as he asked that the Traveler’s words came back to his mind and all became clearer.

“Shit.” he whispered turning around and looking at Astrid who was now watching him with a scared frown.

He sat on the bed and took the woman’s hands into his own telling her in Zemnian: “Listen, I’m in a weird situation right now and I need you to trust me. I need you to tell me what happened to us in the last couple of decades.” Astrid looked at him like he was crazy but answered anyway.

“We went to the Solstryce Academy and graduated, then got married… You joined the army to help your nation in the war effort and are now in charge of an important research which I’m helping you with. Then we moved here and…” 

“Where are my parents?” Caleb almost shouted interrupting her.

Astrid’s eyes darkened. “Bren darling… They’re gone, you know that… The Kryn assaulted our village 3 years ago, they killed them in retaliation after you stole that weird thing they worshipped.” Caleb gasped. He started hyperventilating and felt like the blood in his veins was suddenly starting to freeze.

“Are you ok?” the woman asked as the wizard stood up and started searching the room for clothes. “I’m fine… I’ll be fine…” Caleb answered dressing up as fast as he could with the least apparescent pants and shirt he could find. Under the interrogative eyes of the woman he took a brown coat and a backpack containing what he identified as a spellbook and some gold which were left on a chair nearby.

“Bren where are you going?” he heard Astrid scream behind him while leaving the room, the blood pumping into his ears and the heaviness in his chest making it difficult to breath. He ran down a set of stairs and outside the front door not really paying attention to the house. A crowd of people swarmed around him as he squinted in the morning sun. He felt a wave of panic hitting him.

_ It had been useless _

_ Completely useless _

_ They are dead  _

_ They are still dead _

Caleb started to run. He didn’t know where of why, he just wanted to escape. He ran and ran and ran until his legs gave out and he found himself sitting in the corner of a side alleway, too shocked to even cry. Everything he did, all the sacrifices he made, all the pain he endured were for nothing. His parents were dead and, even in that reality, it was his fault. He was so upset that he didn’t noticed the shadow approaching until a figure in a dark cloak punched him in the guts. Caleb felt his whole body tense up for a moment but managed to shrug of the stunning effect of the punch and jumped back clutching his stomach. 

The figure stepped forward and tried to punch him again but this time the man was prepared. “Stop!” he shouted holding his hand in front of him and casting hold person. The figure froze with a grunt almost falling over. 

“Who are you? what do you want from me?” Caleb asked reaching for their hood and pulling it down. From under it Beau snarled at him with a furious glare. 

-

He had barely managed to restrain the woman before the spell had worn off and was now staring at one of his closest friends’ angry face. 

“Beauregard, why did you attacked me?” Caleb asked while the monk struggled against the rope that bound her wrists.

“How the fuck do you know my name?” She growled instead of answering. She wasn’t exactly as he remembered her. Her blue vests had been substituted by some dark simple clothes, she seemed to miss a piece of the left ear and her hair were longer but it was undoubtedly her. 

“Did some motherfucker betrayed us?!” the monk was asking.

“What? No! I just know you.” Caleb answered “Would you care to tell me what’s going on?”

Beau steeled herself stopping to struggle and said in a voice so cold the wizard felt chills run down his spine “I won’t tell you anything.” 

“Well that is unfortunate… I think you should answer truthfully to every question I ask you.” he said casting suggestion. As the spell took hold Beau’s eyes widened and words seemed to spill from her mouth.

“I attacked you because you have one of the Luxon Beacons and the Bright Queen wants it back. She will kill so many more people if we don’t return it to the Kryn Dynasty. The Empire can’t keep wasting lives just to experiment on this thing.” 

“Why now?” asked Caleb trying to piece together the information he just received and those given him from Astrid.

“I… am not sure what happened. We searched for your location but we couldn’t find you. Last night though a man appeared in my dreams and told me where you would have been. I thought it was worth a shot since we didn’t have a decent lead anyway.” Beau answered.

“What did this man look like?” the wizard insested.

“He was tall, elvish, had red hair and a green cloak. For some reason he looked familiar.”

_ The Traveler wanted the two of them to meet. Why? _

“He said something about finding you and making reality right again but seems like he trusted the wrong person with it.” the monk concluded still struggling and trying do unbind her hands.

Caleb was confused. It seemed clear that the Traveler wanted them to find a way to revert the wish spell but the reason why such a chaotic entity was pulling so many strings to make it happen was unclear.

“Beauregard, where are the others? Where are Nott, Caduceus, Jester, Fjord and Yasha?” he asked. The woman looked at him in the eyes, the man’s knowledge seemingly scaring her, but the spell still compelling her to answer.

“I haven’t seen Jessie, Fjord and Yasha since they were taken away from me and Molly a year or so ago… Who are Nott and Caduceus?”

_ Oh shit. _

_ They never met Nott _

_ They never found the people kidnapped by the Iron Shepherds  _

_ They never brought the beacon back to Rosohna _

_ They never pushed the Dynasty and the Empire towards peace  _

_ There were no Mighty Nein in this world  _

_ People were still dying fighting in that stupid war _

_ Once again it was his fault  _

_ He needed to fix this  _

_ But how? _

“Beauregard, I need you to listen to me.” 

The woman raised her head watching him right in the eyes.

“You’ll think I’m crazy but everything I’m going to tell you is true. I’m not Bren Aldric Ermendrud. Where I come from that hadn’t been my name for many many years. I’m Caleb Widogast and I’m your friend from an alternate reality. There we travelled together with a group called the Mighty Nein and did incredible things. We saved Jester, Fjord and Yasha, we returned the beacon and stopped the war. We were a family.”

The woman chuckled “You should really go to someone good and get your head fixed.”

Caleb sighed “I can prove you that I know you. Your name is Beauregard Lyonett, your mother and father sent you to a monastery because you smuggled your family’s wine and got too much in trouble for their liking. You like women and a good fight and can punch someone an impressive number of times in the smallest amount of time. You’ve never met your little brother. You work with the expositors and even if you like to pretend you don’t pay attention to this kind of things you’re an extremely smart nerd. Now I can imagine what you’re thinking and yes, I could have made my researches and be lying to you right now, but another thing I know about you is that you can literally punch the truth out of someone. So this is what we’re going to do: I’m going to release you and you’re going to hit me until you’re satisfied with the informations I give you. I won’t react. I trust you, you’re family.”

Beau watched wordlessly as the man released her from the binds. As soon as she was free she pulled herself onto her feet, fists ready in front of her face in a defensive stance. Caleb stood still in the middle of the tiny alleway.

“Go on.” he said.

The first punch found quickly his chin and the man could tell she wasn’t even trying to make him tell the truth but just to hurt him. Another one followed. Then another. Then a moment of hesitation. 

The punch that followed felt finally different. Caleb doubled over feeling Beau’s ki taking effect and preventing him from lying.

The woman took one step forward and grasped his hair, forcing him to look at her in the face.

“Did you told me the truth?” she asked, her familiar rough voice full of disbelief. 

“I did.” Caleb answered. His words were followed by a moment of silence.

“Are Jessie, Yasha and Fjord ok in that reality?” the woman almost whispered.

“I’m honestly not sure, they’ve been through a lot. But they aren’t alone and they would have been ok eventually. We would all have been ok.” the wizard murmured.

“Did we really stop the war?” Beau asked letting his hair go, her voice softer.

“We did.”

“Then, Caleb Widogast, I want you to tell me everything about this world of yours.” she said turning around and waiting for him to follow her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 will probably come a little later than this cause I need to study
> 
> Peace and prosperity


	3. Jester

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter contains references to torture

Beau and Caleb sat on a couple of stools in the crowded bar.

“So you’re telling me you found the scroll for a wish spell and fucked us all because you wanted to avoid some past shit without really thinking of the consequences?” the woman asked sipping slowly from a glass with the most judgmental face she could muster.

“Yes. What happened to you guys?” the wizard answered ignoring her tone.

Beau sighed. “Our stories are pretty much the same at the beginning. We met, had a scuffle with a fiend and decided to travel together, without of course you and this Nott person with us. We didn’t escape in the sewers in Zadash and didn’t find the beacon. When the others were kidnapped a little later we weren’t able to trace them down. Me and Molly tried looking for them for a month or so, then Dairon recruited me to work with the expositors and we parted ways.” as nonchalantly as she was saying those words Caleb, so used to see behind the woman’s hard mask, could see the pain they brought her.

_ Molly is alive _

_ Everything is bad but Molly is alive _

“So…” said the woman “how do we revert the effect of this wish spell?” 

“I don’t know.” answered Caleb nursing his drink.

“I feel like the Traveler thinks we need to be together to do it but I don’t know why…” 

He could almost see Beau’s thoughts racing in her head until the sparkle of an idea made her eyes shimmer.

“Caleb!” she exclaimed excitedly patting rapidly and painfully his arm “What if the scroll is still where you found it?”

“How?” asked the Wizard “I used it.”

“Yes, Caleb did, but Bren didn’t. Bren never found it, so what if the scroll is still there in this reality and we need the others to defeat the dragon guarding it?” the woman said jumping on the stool and crouching, unable to stay steel. 

Caleb thought about it for a moment and then smiled. It made sense. They had somewhere to start from.

“But how do we find our friends?” the woman asked.

“We pick up your research where you left it. I know where Fjord, Yasha and Jester were held captive. Be prepared, we’re going to kick the Iron Shepherd’s asses.”

-

They traveled for over two weeks before reaching Shadycreek Run. Caleb sometimes asked himself what Astrid thought when her husband just disappeared. Not that it would have mattered if their plan had worked. Beauregard’s horse trailed a meter or so behind his, the woman watching around carefully as they entered town, wind blowing through the seemingly empty streets. The place was in worse conditions than Caleb remembered: a lot of buildings seemed abandoned and on the verge of crashing down, others looked like they had been ransacked a long time ago. The wizard asked himself if the Iron Shepherd would still be in that God forsaken town, realizing that if they weren’t he would have had no idea what to do.

“This way.” he told Beauregard moving through the main street towards the outskirts of the small city. If he remembered correctly, and he did, their base was in the woods, northern of were they were, hidden from unwanted visitors. They had rested just before coming into town, not wanting to stop inside the infamous place and deciding to go right outside the Sour Nest, the Shepherds’ headquarter.

Thanks to Caleb’s perfect memory they found the place in no time. 

“So is this where they were taken?” Beauregard asked once they were in front of the high walls surrounding the building. A rage he had seen only in Yasha’s eyes seemed to permeate from the monk.

“Yes.” answered the man. “They were kidnapped by human trafficker and brought here to be broken and sold. In my reality we arrived before that happened. I’ve no idea what they did to them here.” Caleb voice was low and rough.

“I want to kill them.” growled Beau. “ I want to kill every single one of those bastards for taking them away from me. If they hurt them…”

“They did. There’s no doubt about that, but we need to stay focused. There’s just two of us, trying and taking them down might be too much to handle. We need to wait for most of them to leave, go inside and find out where our friends are. Nothing more.” said Caleb putting a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “I know you’re angry and believe me, I’m too, but if we can reverse the spell, things will go back to the way they’re supposed to be and they’ll be safe. We cannot afford the luxury of dying, there’s stuff that needs to be done. Am I clear?”

Beau bit her lower lip for a couple of long seconds, her silence making the wizard nervous, then sighed “fine, I’ll try… So now what?”

“Now we hide and wait.” answered Caleb.

-

They hid for 3 days in the woods before the Shepherds decided to leave. Their carts, Lorenzo driving the first one, exited slowly from the wide gate and followed the road towards town. Caleb and Beau didn’t lose any more time. Five minutes later the monk was quickly making her way up the wall, running on it like it wasn’t vertical. Caleb looked as the woman beated the shit out of the couple of guards that were taking watch and opened slightly the gate.

“C’mon, let’s hurry.” Beau told him while running to the building and kicking the door open. Caleb followed her keeping an eye out, but it seemed that the majority of the Shepherd’s staff had left with Lorenzo. They moved as stealthily as they could through the dark corridors, magically opening the cages they found and sending the prisoners towards the woods.

“We need to find someone to interrogate… Let’s search the mercenaries’ bedrooms.” Caleb whispered after they reached the second subterranean floor, guiding Beau towards where he knew the soldiers slept. Few seconds after they were barreling in one of the chambers. A man was reading onto a bed while a female halfling slept on another. Caleb silenced the first mercenary before he could even realize what was happening and Beau knocked him out in no time, then they approached the halfling. 

She woke as Beau’s hand was being pressed onto her mouth.

“Shhh, Listen to me...” whispered the monk in her ear “look at your friend down there. We don’t want to treat you like we treated him, but you’ll need to cooperate. So here’s what is going to happen: I’m going to remove my hand from your mouth and you’re going to answer a couple of questions. If you don’t my friend Caleb here will incinerate you alive.” Concluded Beau with a smile as the wizard’s hands lit up with flames.

The scared halfling nodded slowly without even thinking and the monk let her go.

“What do you want to know?” she growled.

“The location of a some people who we’re sure have been around here.” Said Caleb kneeling in front of her to get to her eye level.

“Have you seen an handsome, tuskless half-orc with a weird sword, a goth, buff, tall and pale woman and a blue tiefling with curly blue hair? they came in together a year ago or so.”

The halfling thought about it for a couple of seconds and then answered:

“The half-orc and the woman I know not about, I started working here only 6 months ago… The tiefling is downstairs though.”

Beau froze “She’s still here?”

“Yes.” said the halfling “they use her to avoid killing prisoners during torture. For what I know they decided not to sell her because they thought she could be useful.”

“Where is she?” Caleb asked, his voice cold as ice.

“She’s probably helping with the last ones we captured in the torture chamber.”

“How many guards are around here?” continued interrogating Beau.

“there’s just four of us in the entire building excluding one of the bosses.” answered the halfling.

“That’s all we needed to know, thanks.” said Beau quickly knocking her out with her staff. She then looked at the wizard with worry in her eyes

“We need to find her.”

They exited quickly the chamber and snuck unseen towards the stairs, descending them as fast as they could, then proceeded along the rock corridor, busting silently open the cells they found but not bothering helping the people inside, too busy hurrying to the torture chamber to really care. It seemed like the only guards in the building were the ones they already dealt with. They arrived at the metallic door of the torture room in no more than a few minutes and, after Beau unlocked it with skills Caleb didn’t know she had, they busted in at the count of three.

The room was tiny and cramped with dangerous-looking objects. Hooks and whips dangled from everywhere on the walls except for a corner, where there was a brazer full of pieces of iron. In the center of the room stood a simple wood table with chains attached at the four angles. A female Half-orc (Caleb remembered her name was Dwelma) was standing next to the table studying an iron hook with way too much interest. And then there was Jester.

She was much thinner than Beau remembered, almost unhealthily so, and seemed less muscular. Dark circles surrounded her eyes and she was slightly hunched, seemingly trying to become as little as she could. The monk could see that her lower lip was busted and dark bruises were visible all over her body, the tattered clothes she was wearing unable to cover them. the tiefling was standing manacled to the half-orc’s side. 

“Jessie!” Beau shouted as both the tiefling and the half-orc turned her way.

“Beau?” asked Jester uncertain, her voice not higher than a confused and scared whisper.

“We’re going to get you out of here.” hissed the woman leaping towards the Half-orc with her staff ready.

“No you’re not.” Dwelma growled. She then muttered something neither Beau nor Caleb understood and Jester fell limp on the stone floor with a soft thump, seemingly alive but asleep.

A millisecond after Beau’s staff impacted with the half-orc knee, making her buckle, while Caleb shot her, hitting her with two scorching rays, hurting her but not managing to make her move. 

“You’ve made a mistake coming here.” said the half-orc with a grin, turning into the biggest dire wolf the two had ever seen and jumping onto Beauregard with her teeth bared. 

_ She became stronger _

Caleb though watching as the wolf bit Beau’s shoulder making the woman scream while he sent two magic missile the druid’s way, hissing in frustration and worry when one missed and ended up a few centimeters away from Jester’s unconscious body. 

_ He needed more space if he wanted to do real damage. _

With a swift movement the man took a pinch of sulfur from his component pouch and cast a wall of fire surrounding and cornering the wolf.

“Beauregard, take Jester and get out.” he shouted.

“She’ll follow us!” the monk answered.

“Trust me, take her out of here!” Caleb said watching as the wolf approached the fire trying to get through. Beau sighed and ran to the tiefling, throwing her onto a shoulder and exiting the door followed by the wizard just as the wolf managed to traverse the wall of fire.

The moment they stepped outside Caleb focused, the energy of one of his spells, amplified by using it as an higher level, fizzling on the top of his fingers. With a fluid motion the man threw the fireball into the room shutting the door behind them.

The explosion was deafening, the metal door barely managing to keep the fire inside the small room and getting incandescent in a few seconds. Then silence fell on the corridor. Beau approached slowly the now barely standing door, opening it with a small push of her staff. Inside a charred half-orc body laid unconscious. The monk approached Caleb and carefully handed him Jester without a word. Caleb took her into his arms fighting to maintain control of his body as the smell of burnt meat invaded the space, barely noticing the shimmer of sheer anger in Beau’s eyes. The woman entered then the room and took one of the smoldering hooks from the wall. She loomed over the still breathing half-orc ignoring the pain the iron’s heath was causing to her hand.

“You guys hurt Jessie and now i’m gonna make you pay for it.” she whispered under Caleb’s shocked eyes. The hook quickly descended on the half-orc one, two, three times until she breathed no more. Beau then got up, cleaned her bloodied hands on her pants and walked back into the corridor, taking Jester back from Caleb and cradling her into her own arms.

“Let’s get out of here.” she said walking towards the exit.

-

The campfire was a warm comfort into the cold night. With just the three of them, the dome could safely contain it, and Caleb was surprisingly really happy about it. The cart they stole from the Shepherds laid a few meters from them with the horses, who were peacefully eating grass while he tried to cook something. In front of him Jester laid awake for the first time in a while, her head resting in Beau’s lap. The tiefling had been sleeping most of the few days they spent on the road. The spell cast on the manacles that the Iron Shepherd used to knock her out was unusually resilient and deep bone exhaustion seemingly hit her as soon as they left the Sour Nest often forcing her eyelids closed.

Now she was murmuring something to Beau with an unsure smile on her lips, glancing occasionally in his direction. Caeb had left to Beau the task of explaining the situation and she did the day before, when Jester managed to stay awake half an hour or so . Caleb then offered to let her cast zone of truth on him, but she refused with a smile.

“If Beau believes you I do too. She’s very smart you know? if you lied to her she would probably know.” she said.

Caleb looked at her with worry, the unfamiliar sight of her made even weirder by the fact that she had to borrow some of Beau’s clothes. Even if she had been able to cure the multiple cuts and bruises they left her, even as she kept smiling and telling that she was fine, he couldn’t avoid noticing how fake her smiles were and how tired and frail she looked. She reminded him of himself and he didn’t like that, not even a bit.

“Cayleb.” Jester raised her voice to make sure he could hear her. “Beau said we need to find the others… If you want I can try to scry on them. I don’t have enough power for all of them I don’t think but we can just chose one.” 

“Do you know who bought Fjord and Yasha? we should probably check on the one who seems more in danger.” Caleb told her.

“Yasha disappeared suddenly, I really don't know what happened to her… I hope she managed to escape but probably she was just sold while I was sleeping or something. Fjord left soon after with an elf with red hair, a sleeveless coat and a big hat. She didn’t seem to mistreat him for what I saw but...” Jester answer got interrupted by Caleb’s loud zemnian swearing.

“Avanika! How did she find him?!” 

“Who is Avantika?” asked Beau frowning.

“A very dangerous woman. If Fjord is with her we better find him.”

Jester nodded and started preparing the ritual to scry. A minute or so later she was sitting on the ground, motionless, her eyes lost somewhere else. Beau and Caleb watched her expectantly as she returned to herself with a gasp.

“He is in Nicodranas, I’m sure about it… He looks different but seems ok.” the tiefling reported. 

“Nicodranas is super far away, he might be gone when we arrive there.” Beau groaned.

“Actually we can get there in no time. We’ll be busting into someone’s tower doing so but it’s our best bet.” Caleb said. “Jester, If you feel better we can go there tomorrow morning.”

The tiefling nodded

“The spell has faded I think, I don’t feel so tired anymore, tomorrow I’ll be fine. We can go.” 

“Then let’s go to bed and be ready to leave early tomorrow.” said Caleb lying down.

-

_ The ground was hard under her. She could hear the blood pumping into her ears. Her lips tasted like iron. She felt a bruise forming on her temple, where Lorenzo hit her. _

_ “Now get up and heal her.” his voice said calmly. _

_ “She doesn’t want me to.” Jester answered in a murmur. _

_ “She asked me to let her die. She can’t take it anymore.” _

_ Lorenzo took her from an arm, lifting her so she could see the woman bleeding out on the table.  _

_ “But you aren’t going to listen to her, are you?” he whispered in her ear. _

_ Jester looked at the woman she promised not to heal, tears rising to her eyes, and she knew she couldn’t let her die. The tiefling raised a shaking hand to the other’s face and cast cure wounds. Her eyes opened immediately. _

_ “Why?” she asked, watching the tiefling with scared eyes.“You promised me!” _

_ “You did good little sapphire. Dwelma, take her away.” ordered Lorenzo. _

_ As two arms took hers and started dragging her into a cell, she heard the woman starting to scream. _

Jester woke up shivering and hyperventilating, the feeling of the cold stone being replaced by the one of grass. She sat up and looked at the stars above her head, not even bothering to try and call to the Traveler for comfort. She stopped hoping he could help her a long time ago. She missed that hope and trust in him like nothing else in her life. After a few seconds she managed to slow down her breathing, but she couldn’t stop shivering. She thought the fact that she never suffered the cold in her entire life and now kept waking up freezing and shaking was almost funny. 

_ She needed to sleep _

_ She needed her spells bac _ k

The tiefling laid down again, tossing and turning for five minutes or so, huffing in annoyance when the shivering didn't seem to lessen in intensity. She tried getting close to the long snuffed out fire, looking for non-existent warmth and didn't find any, so she decided to look for the sources of heat she could find.

“Beau?” Jester whispered crawling next to the woman.

“Jessie? Is something wrong” she grumbled, barely awake.

“Sorry if I woke you, it’s just that I’m cold and I can’t sleep...” the tiefling answered.

“C’m here.” the monk said hopening her arms.

Jester snuggled into Beau’s embrace, the woman’s arms wrapping around her.

_ She was warm _

_ Warm enough to keep her together _

_ She made her safe _

From outside the dome The Traveler watched his cleric fall slowly back asleep, the loudly snoring woman holding her tight. Artagan smiled relieved. His plan was working.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So  
> I might ship Beaujester just a little bit  
> But that's not the point
> 
> Anyway as always feedback and kudos are appreciated  
> Peace and prosperity


End file.
